Tag Archives: Peripherals

Virtual reality made an early attempt at adoption in the mid 90’s; those of you old enough will remember the clunky helmets, the terrible lag and awful resolution. No wonder it failed. Now with the work being done on the Oculus Rift, there’s hope that the second wave of that tech will catch on. But as awesome as the Oculus Rift is, there are still many obstacles in the way of its mainstream adoption. Sony may have put yet another roadblock in the form of its Project Morpheus. This is going to be Sony’s own attempt at one-upping the Oculus. Whether the device itself is superior in the end doesn’t really matter, since the fact that Sony’s peripheral will be native to the console means it’s much more likely that developers will code around it over the Oculus. Yes, that does mean VR wars are shaping up, but we’re a little worried for Oculus. What does Project Morpheus have in the bag?

1080p display
1000Hz motion detection

Only one headset at a time is supported

Headset is currently connected to the PS4 by a 5-meter wire

Positional/rotational head tracking

Tracking is handled by the same camera that tracks PS4 Move controllers

It works for people with glasses

Content pushed to the Morpheus can be mirrored to a TV, but it sounds like it can handle asymmetric gameplay (different things on each screen) as well.

An “Open air” design prevents the lenses from fogging up. (It’ll be interesting to see how they prevent light leaking in)

As for when this is ready for prime time? At this point it’s anyone’s guess.

We would like to believe that the above picture is that of a real product. Not because we think there really is a benefit to having a levitating computer mouse, despite claims of it relieving stress that leads to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. But because, really… a levitating mouse?! The Bat, as it’s called, allegedly floats all by itself at 40mm when not in use, and comes back down to 10mm beneath the weight of your 1000g (~2.2-pound) hand. You use it as you would a regular mouse, and… yeah that’s it. It’s a project by Kibardin Design and it’s supposedly under testing at the moment. We’re not holding our breaths to ever see it on the market.

It reminds us of Art Lebedev’s fabled Optimus Maximus Keyboard, which took the world by storm in early 2005, only to later be pulled, prodded and kicked into a workable product, albeit at a ridiculous price and produced for a very limited time.

It looks like motion control is for console gaming what 3D is for flat screen TV vendors; everyone is telling us it’s great and the market seems to respond with a big “meh.” Be that as it may, some of you may actually be into this stuff and might enjoy this new announcement from Sony at E3. They’re releasing the PlayStation Move Racing Wheel which would cradle your PS Move controller and let you enjoy racing games in a more natural manner. It even has fold out grips so that a car racing game can easily be traded with a bike racing game using the same controller. There are paddle shifters and twist throttle controls so it’s not just a simple and dumb plastic cradle.

I just recently wrote about Shogun Bros.’ entry into the gaming mice market with a mouse that doubled as a gamepad. Quirky device. But now they’ve announced the Mk-1, a gaming mouse that packs a bunch of features that actually sound kind of nice. The best of which is the “Precision Sniping System” which lets you adjust the X and Y dpi setting independently and on the fly, so that you can zero in on your target with more precision, and still pan around faster when not going in for the kill. Aside from this, there’s “Extreme Accurate 5700 DPI, 1000HZ Polling Rate. Extreme Movement Sensation – 11570 Frame Per Second (No Jumping, No Skipping).” There are several profiles that you can set, depending on the game you’re playing with one of them being desktop… should you ever actually try to get any work done with this in your hand.

Keyboards are really some of the most disgusting items in your household. You’re constantly flaking off dead skin cells and finger oil and it all falls through the cracks where it builds this layer of bioscum, which is a wonderful nesting ground for bacteria of all kinds. The only thing dirtier is maybe paper money. Now, when you’re at home, you just learn to give your immune system a good workout, but in medical settings, a dirty keyboard can mean someone dying. That’s why it’s a good thing the Vioguard has gotten clearance from the FDA to be marketed as a self-sanitizing alternative. It features a proximity sensor that will eject the keyboard when you need it. Otherwise it’s housed inside its UV resistant receptacle where it’ll not only be away from circulating air, it’ll be exposed to strong UV rays that are known to destroy viruses and bacteria (even the scary MRSA). The Vioguard uses 80W when actively sanitizing (a process that takes 60-90 seconds), and 3W on standby. The lamp is good for 40,000 disinfection cycles while the mechanism stands up to 300,000 uses.

There’s no word on price but as this looks like a medical application, we’re thinking it ain’t cheap.

Something has to be said about comfort and ease of use. When doing presentations, you need to be able to control what’s on screen, and the more seamless the task gets the more you can concentrate on not pulling a Rick Perry. The Genius Ring Presenter does everything a mouse does but fits right into a finger. If you think about it, it’s a very natural way of doing something like this. Is even got a laser pointer.

You receive full access to control power point slides, Play (F5)/Exit, Last/Next Page, Left button and Laser pointer anywhere in the room when doing a presentation. In addition, Ring Presenter also comes with the in-air mouse function so you can use actual mouse functions like cursor movement, left/middle/right buttons, dragging and 4-way scrolling.

The Genius Ring Presenter uses Bluetooth and a small USB dongle to connect to your PC.

The Chameleon X-1 isn’t a new device, but I’m taking this opportunity to talk about it for the first time. See, it looks like a regular wireless 5-stage adjustable 1,600dpi gaming mouse, but it’s also a “gaming grade” gamepad with force feedback, 16 Buttons and 2 analog sticks. And it’s now gotten some Assassins Creed Revelations thematics, like antique decorated cowhide buttons and some logos. Branding aside, the X-1 is an interesting device for anyone who likes gaming a works diligently at reducing clutter. And it’s $60.

The Assassins Creed version is going to be released at CES next week in “Altair white” and “Ezio grey”, but in the meantime you can get the old X-1, sans leather, on Amazon.

Sometimes… well, heck, no… most of the time we end up wanting gadgets just because they look cool, and today is no exception. A concept from Jason Giddings, an aerospace engineer and CEO of Giddings Product Development, this awesome looking multitouch sensitive keyboard and mouse combo is made from a special curved piece of tempered glass, and a couple of cameras in the base. Here’s how they work:

The design is based on a touch screen technology known as FTIR or Frustrated Total Internal Reflection. There are basically infrared LEDs placed at the edge of the glass. In this case, they are hidden inside holes where the glass is mounted to the metal base. Because of the low angle at which the light impacts the internal glass surface, it is bounced around inside the glass, much like looking through a tube to see the reflections on the inside walls. When the glass is touched it frustrates the reflection and the IR light is diffused downward, out of the glass, allowing the camera to see it. Software then determines the location and sends the appropriate information to your computer.

Jason is trying to raise $50,000 through Kickstarter and he’s off to a good start since he’s already at $24,415 right now. There appears to be no working prototype at the moment, although Jason’s experience in the field of product design (having successfully brought several products to market) should smooth over fears that this is vaporware.

If you want to go ahead and pre-order, it’s $150 for the mouse, $250 for the keyboard, or $350 for both. Not cheap. But look at them.

Tired of getting your ass handed to you by foul-mouthed prepubescents in online gaming? Put some odds on your side by getting what is undeniably a better gaming setup than a console controller: a mouse and keyboard. The grandiosely named Tactical Assault Commander 3 (or TAC 3) from Hori plugs right into your PS3 and replaces the controller with what you see in the picture. Aside from the obvious and immediate advantages, the TAC 3 has some unique features. The mouse sensitivity can be adjusted on the fly allowing for a quicker movement radius, or a more delicate one depending on your preference at any given time. There’s also a quick response button on the mouse. When held down, the left and right movements of the mouse become extra sensitive allowing for quick toggling and turning around when necessary (within game limits). Finally the keyboard has a dedicated walk button with adjustable speed and interchangeable keys.

The TAC 3 is released on October 24th, the same date that Battlefield 3 hits the shelves. It’s $100 and comes in black or the pictured camo. A small price to pay for your dignity.

OhGizmo! is a frequently updated blog that focuses on covering items that will appeal to a very specific and often very passionate audience: the geek. Aside from the fare of innovative consumer electronic products, the reader can expect to find news about geek culture, absurd inventions, awe inspiring technology, and an ever growing assortment of articles that we like to think fit within our view of what we’re calling the Geek Lifestyle.